MacMost: Archives

The cell format in Numbers determines how the value in the cell is displayed. You can set the number of decimal places, add thousands separators, control how negative numbers are displayed and more. You can also format dates and durations. With custom cell formats you can take complete control and even change the format based on the value of the cell.

Starting with macOS Catalina 10.15.4 you can use Accessibility to control your cursor with your head, and even click and drag with facial expressions. Even if you don't need this functionality, it can be useful as a temporary way to control your Mac is some situations, or just a way to give your hands a rest.

If you need the headings in your document to be automatically numbered, you can adapt the numbered lists styles and the ability to continue from the previous number to accomplish this. The result isn't ideal, but it can be a life-saver in long documents with many headings as the numbers will change automatically as you add and remove headings.

It seems to be impossible to search for files in the Mac Finder in two or more separate locations at the same time. But you can do it ina tricky way by editing the criteria of a Saved Search. While not quick, this does give you the ability and you can modify it later to search in the same locations for different things.

Learn how to create a Shortcut on your iPhone that you can activate with your voice to turn on Do Not Disturb. The Shortcut will then ask you for a number of miniutes and automatically turn off. You can also set it to activate silently as a Home screen icon.

If you use Icon View in the Finder to organize your files, here are some useful tips. You can place the icons where you want, or have them placed automatically by name, kind or time. You can also change the spacing and icon size, add more information to the file name and make other adjustments. You can also set a background color or image.

The Finder's List view gives you a sortable list of files and folders with columns of data such as date, size and kind. You can sort by the columns, add new ones, and arrange them. You can also navigate down into subfolders using the cursor or keyboard. Learn some little-known tricks for using List View.

If you use Column View in the Finder to organize your files, here are some useful tips. There are many ways to resize or "right size" columns. You can navigate and even move files with the keyboard. There are also some preferences you can set.

If you want something faster than an external hard drive, and better than a USB Flash drive, you can build an external SSD drive with an SSD and an enclosure. I built a 256GB USB 3.1 external SSD for less than $70 that works great on my Mac. Learn how to build your own.

If you haven't taken the time to play with Apple's GarageBand app on your Mac, here are 10 quick things you can do with it. Some are useful, like merging and trimming many audio files. Others are fun like turning your Mac's keyboard into a piano or drum kit. You can even import MIDI files and edit the audio of a video with GarageBand.

There are more ways to move files on your Mac than just simply dragging them from one Finder window to another. You can also use a variety of shortcuts to get to the destination folder while dragging, use copy, and even create an Automator Quick Action.

Here are some handy tips for using Keynote on your Mac. You can fill shapes or text with images, add links, record audio per slide, and insert math equations. You can also create animations that swap letters or draw lines. You can even use Keynote to create simple web site. That and much more!

You don't need to close a file to rename it or move it. Most modern apps allow you to rename or move the file from within the app. You can also move them in the Finder while the document is still open. But some third-party apps don't support this.

Watch if you want to add keyboard shortcuts for Launchpad, Do No Disturb or Notification Center on your Mac. You can also bring these up using gestures or Hot Corners.

You don't have to create a document all at once in a single app. You can take different documents from different apps like Pages, Numbers, Keynote, web reports, images and more, and combine them into a single PDF using Preview. This allows you to create pages of your document in the app best suited for that content.